In 1947, H. A. Wheeler published formulas for qualifying the antenna radiation (Q) for electrically small antenna in terms of the antenna's physical size. Shortly thereafter, L. J. Chu published additional formulas and theories on the subject, also using the antenna's size as a metric. As the Q of an antenna is inversely related to the antenna's frequency response, of significant interest to antenna engineers is the theoretical Q limits imposed by Wheeler and Chu for given antenna dimensions. Numerous scientists have attempted to corroborate and expand on these dimension-based formulas in terms of actual measurements of scale models, computational models, or revised formulas base on electrical parameters, with some degree of success. However, these approaches have typically yielded solutions that are either very cumbersome or do not provide an elegant approach for designing low Q antennas.
Therefore, there has been a long-standing need in the antenna community for simpler methods and systems for designing wide bandwidth antennas, based on a low Q criterion.